MarichatAdrienette
by miraculousemily74
Summary: Marinette gets seriously injured in an akuma attack out of costume. Chat Noir saves her, and begins to worry about his precious princess. As it turns out, there are many things that His Lady doesn't know about him- things he's perfectly comfortable sharing with Marinette. Is Marinette keeping secrets as well? Stay with them as they find out! Marichat/Adrienette
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys, this is my first (posted) story, so tell me what y'all think, and if I should update? :)**

 **-/-/-**

The building was crumbling all around Marinette. She clutched her purse tightly, pulse throbbing, her fear making darkness seep into her vision. Tikki was still weak, stuck in her purse, her exhaustion too overwhelming to turn her into Ladybug.

Marinette sobbed, yanking at the door's handle one more time. It was jammed from the outside by some unknown source.

The crumbling plaster of the roof seeped into Marinette's nostrils and passed her lips, making her cough and choke. It felt as if an earthquake was shaking the while building.

The ceiling above her was cracking. Marinette look up, fear striking her.

In a desperate attempt to save her little fairy friend, she slung her bag back over her shoulder and threw it across the room, landing under a couch, out of harms way, just as the ceiling crumbled over her, Marinette's terrified scream piercing the air around her.

-/-/-

Chat Noir was jumping rooftops, searching. The Akuma had yet to be vanquished, and Ladybug was no where to be found. The villain was nowhere in sight. Ladybug's bright red costume didn't catch his feline eyes.

He froze, staring across the street at a building the was crumbling. The Akumaized villain was standing on the rooftop, laughing evilly.

Chat Noir clenched his staff, reading to jump into battle. But something in a giant open window around the sixteenth floor caught his eye.

His classmate and one of his good friend's, Marinette, was pounding on a door, horrified tears streaming down her face. She didn't seem to notice them.

Bits of plaster stuck to her hair, and she looked up, at the ceiling.

She took he bag off and threw it, just as the ceiling came down on top of her.

Her scream rang in his ears, unfreezing him.

"Marinette!" He yelled. The building ha stopped shaking, as the Akumaized villain was no longer on top of it.

Chat Noir jumped across the street, landing on the sidewalk in front f the building. His adrenaline was pumping thorough him like crazy, his heart pounding in his chest, his blood churning in his veins.

If she was dead, he would never forgive himself.

He extended his staff, up, up, all the way up to the window where he had seen her.

He hopped through, coughing as the dust cleared.

He saw her small, broken body pinned under a large wooden pillar, the ceiling and hard wooden floors of the story above this one's floor splintered to pieces around the area that had fallen.

"No, no, no," Chat said, dropping his staff and running to her. He pushed the splintered wood and chunks of cement out of the way, coughing out the dust and paint flecks that settled in his lungs. "Marinette! Answer me!"

He pulled the wooden pillar off of her with strength he didn't know he possessed, dragging her frail body out from under it.

She was in his arms as he knelt, frantically brushing her hair out of her small, pale face.

Her beautiful blue eyes were closed, the long lashes touching her cheeks. Her right arm hung limply at her side, and Chat Noir saw specks of blood on her clothes, feeling it seeping into his leather costume.

"Mari," he said softly. "Mari, wake up."

He leaned down, pressing his cheek to her chest. A heart a very faint, but very much alive, heart beat.

Relief washed through him, and he was shocked to see frightened tears drip into her pale pink shirt.

He spotted her bag that she had so desperately tried to save under a couch across the room. He scooped her up bridal style, standing.

He was much lighter than he had anticipated. It made sense, considering she was small. He'd only held her this way once before, and only for a second, when their classmate Nathanael had been Akumaized after a girl named Chloé had made fun of him for...

...for being in love with Marinette.

Chat Noir stared down at her, his heart still pumping the blood through his body at an excessive rate. Her blue-ish hair had specks of white ceiling in it, and her shirt and pink jeans had blood stains. Her jacket was ripped at the sleeve, exposing a large cut on her forearm, taking over her pale skin.

He turned, crouching down to grab his staff. Last minute, he laid her gently on the ground and fished under the couch, grabbing hold of her purse before picking her back up softly and laying the purse on her stomach.

Her eyes still hadn't opened, making Chat think she had hit her head and was unconscious.

He prayed she wasn't TOO hurt as he escaped out the window, racing towards the hospital.

-/-/-


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Salut! Sorry my chapters are short, but this is all pre-written!**  
 **  
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 **-/-/-**

 ****

Marinette stood in her room, pondering the events of the past few days. She remembered the ceiling hitting her, but after that, nothing until she woke up in the hospital. Nobody knew who had brought her, or how she had gotten there.

Her parents and come for her and brought her home, after the doctor's looked her over. She had a light scratch on her cheek, a deep cut on her right forearm that had ripped her jacket. Splinters had pierced her leg and stomach in multiple places, and she had a heavy concussion.

She bit her lip, running her memories thorough her head. She had a hazy memory of tears hitting her shirt, and being lifted into the air. But that was it. Nothing else.

Just as she though this, there was a light tap on her window pane.

She flinched, whirling around. Who should block the moonlight with his silhouette that Chat Noir.

She flung open the window and stepped back. He landed in her room gracefully.

"Marinette," he asked, his eyes wife and worried. "Are you okay?"

She blinked in surprise. "How did you-" realization hit her, and she inhaled sharply. "You're the one who..."

He shrugged sheepishly, yet there was no hint of his mocking smirk or teasing in his eyes.

She sighed heavily. "I'm okay. The ceiling didn't crush me TOO badly." She let out a weak laugh. He didn't laugh with her.

Her laughed died down, and she fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I'm glad you're alright," he finally said softly. "I was- worried," he said, catching himself from saying terrified.

She bit her lip. "Like I said... I'm okay."

He nodded, stepping away from her. "I trust they gave you your bag?"

Her face heated up and she tensed cautiously. "Yes," she said finally. "Did you... Look in it?"

And his teasing grin was back, so familiar and warm that it made her relax instantly, oddly enough.

"Now, Princess," he tsk-ed. "My mother always told me never to look through a lady's bag." His face darkened, and he cleared his throat. "At least, she probably WOULD have."

He blinked, shaking off his sudden change in demeanor. "Anyway. I'll... I'll check on you tomorrow, Mari."

He turned to hop out the window, but Marinette caught his arm.

"Wait!" She felt her face flush feeling the muscles under his suit.

He turned, looking at her over his shoulder. His feline green eyes questioned her.

"The Akuma," she finally said. "Did you... Defeat it?"

Chat Noir suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Yes," he said slowly. "But I had to by myself. Ladybug... Left town abruptly."

Ah, so her message HAD gotten through. She'd told Chat Noir that her REAL self had to go in vacation for the next two weeks, as was the amount of time the doctor's told Marinette to cease all stressful activities.

Saving Paris was DEFINITELY stressful.

Marinette blinked. "How? I thought she was the one who... You know, made them okay again."

She didn't want to seem too attuned to the technical terms that she and Chat Noir used, such as the fact that she PURIFIED the akuama's.

He shook his head. "I had to... Absorb. It." He cleared his throat. "But don't worry Princess. It won't happen again."

He flashed her a strained smile, baking off her grip and hopping through her open window, into the shadows.

Marinette was dumbfounded. He ABSORBED it?

As in, took the evil into his own body?

She gulped. She prayed that Hawkmoth would lay low for a few days.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as he had promised, Chat Noir was back the next night, catching Marinette in the act of undressing her wounds.

"Hey, let me help you," he said, startling her.

She gasped, putting a hand to her heart. "You stupid cat! Give me some warning!"

He chuckled, sitting next to her on her couch, taking the roll of gauze out of her small hands.

"I have to do this a lot," he explained, unrolling the gauze with the dried blood off of her arm with the stitches.

Marinette bit her lip. "You... Do?"

Chat Noir frowned down at the white medical tape. "I tend to... Get in stickier situations than My Lady."

He flashed her a smile, trying to soothe the worry lines that had appeared on her face.

"You do?" She asked.

"For different reasons," he mused. "I tend to... Patrol, sort of. If I see someone in trouble- like getting mugged, let's say, I'll help them. Sometimes it's a knife..." He trailed off, furrowing his brow. "Sometimes it's a gun..."

Marinette gasped. He flinched hard, looking up into her big blue eyes. "I'd never been shot," he hurried. "More like... Grazed."

He forced a smile. "It's perfectly all right. It's my job, after all."

"Does Ladybug go with you?" Marinette knew the answer to this perfectly well, but for now, she was an actress, playing a roll of a girl that DIDN'T fight at Chat's side almost every day.

He pressed his lips together, taking the gauze and cutting off a portion. "No. She doesn't even know. That's why I handle it." He shifted. "Better me than done innocent bystander."

"You're just as innocent as they are," Marinette said softly.

He looked up at her through his eyelashes, his messy blonde hair dropping in his eyes.

"Maybe not," he said gently. "You don't know much about me, do you?"

She had a sad look on her face. He tied the gauze- went even realized that he had applied it- and smoothed her bangs out of her face, kissing her forehead with a gentleness she didn't know he possessed.

He stood, flicking his hair out of his eyes. "I'll check on you tomorrow, Marinette."

-/-/-

The next night, Marinette was anxious to ask him questions. She'd been thinking long and hard at school all day, puzzling over his mysterious words. How wasn't he so innocent? Why hadn't he told her- Ladybug- that he was patrolling?

How the hell did being GRAZED by a bullet mean he wasn't SHOT?

She'd been so distracted, she actually barely noticed when Adrien stopped by her locker and asked her about her wounds.

"Hey Marinette," he said, giving her a sweet smile. "How's your head?"

"Fine," she murmured, absently looking for her textbook.

His face fell a bit. "Oh. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thanks," she said, grabbing her textbook and shutting her locker. She was wondering at the time exactly what Chat Noir had gotten into when she wasn't there.

"Well... I guess I'll see you in class."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged away.

"Adrien, wait," Marinette said. He turned, looking a bit hopeful.

"Yeah?"

She crouched, picking up a pencil that he had dropped. "Here. I think this is yours."

He reached out and took it, his fingers brushing hers. Electricity shot through her arm, making her jolt back into reality, blinking up at him.

He smiled down at her. "Thanks."

He was about to turn, but she took a deep breath.

"I have a concussion," she said quickly. "I'm a little spacey... I d-don't rude to be mean. I mean, mean t-to be rude!"

She blushed furiously, wanting to kick herself.

Adrien's small smile brought a smile to her own lips.

"I heard what happened... It must've been awful. I'm so sorry." His face fell. "I wonder why no one saved you."

Although he hadn't technically said it, they both knew what he meant. Why hadn't Ladybug or Chat Noir saved her.

"Chat Noir DID find me," she said quickly.

Adrien's fingertips brushed her hairline, and he wet his lips, furrowing his brow, his eyes studying the cut that ran along her pale skin.

"Not soon enough," he concluded. "See you in class."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Alya was by Marinette's side.

"Girl! He just touched you and you didn't scream! That's some SERIOUS progress!" Her friend's huge smile made Marinette's strange angry feeling fade away.

She forced a smile. "Yeah. I didn't appreciate the... Uh, Chat Noir thing, though."

Alya stared after Adrien. "Well... Maybe he's just upset you were hurt. Nino told me he was worrying all day while you were in the hospital."

And then, there it was, that hopeful spark that lit the fire in Marinette's stomach. "Really?"

"Uh-huh. I even saw it with my own eyes. He was wringing his hands and muttering your name." She wiggled her eyebrows, tossing an ombré'd lock of hair over her shoulder and linking her arm through Marinette's. "C'mon, I'll tell you more in class."

-/-/-


	4. Chapter 4

By nightfall, Marinette had her questions ready.

She was getting used to keeping her window open, so when Chat Noir swung into the room, she tugged on one of her pigtails nervously.

He saw the look on her face and faltered. "Uh oh. What wrong?"

She shook her head. "I was just... Worried. You haven't REALLY been... SHOT at before. Have you?"

Chat Noir wet his lips, taking a deep breath, then letting it out.

Taking a deep breath, letting it out.

Taking a deep breath-

"Well," he said finally. "Once or twice."

Marinette flinched. "Maybe you shouldn't... DO that. Without Ladybug."

"I'll just worry her," he chuckled.

"You're worrying ME," Marinette pleaded.

Chat Noir crossed his arms, smirking. "You barely KNOW me."

Mari pressed her lips in a thin line, tasting her own vanilla Chapstick.

"You've saved my life twice," she said. "I'll warrant that as being able to worry about you."

He watched her for a few seconds before speaking again. "Believe it or not, you're probably one of the two people in the world who.. Care. About me."

He cleared his throat.

Marinette stepped towards him carefully. "That can't be true."

"It is," he said sadly. "My Lady doesn't care unless we're in battle, which is understandable."

Marinette inhaled sharply. "THAT can't be true!"

Chat Noir laughed. "Slow your roll, Princess. She still cares, if only a little."

Marinette pretended she wasn't bristling with anger at his remark. "Well, what about your parents?"

Chat felt his heart drop to his feet, and he gripped his staff tighter. "My father... He doesn't..." He trailed off. "He's... Rough. Very rough. He doesn't pay much attention to me- when he does, it's probably to yell at me." He let out a weak laugh. "And my mother died when I was small."

Marinette felt herself weaken. "What about siblings?" She heard herself whisper.

"I don't have any."

Chat wouldn't meet her eyes. Mari could feel the guilt building. She'd rejected him so many times, when he really didn't have much to begin with. Her rejection lead to his belief that she didn't CARE about him.

Her heart hurt in her chest, and before she knew what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, pulling him close.

The small curves over her body fit into the straights of his almost perfectly.

He stiffened at her embrace, his entire face heating up.

After a second of silence, he hugged her back, just as tightly.

He buried his face in her neck, whispering, "I... I haven't been hugged in years."

She suddenly felt like crying. She held him closer, thing to keep her voice from shaking.

"I swear to god, you stupid kitty, if you're lying to me..."

"I wish I was," he said softly.

She let him go, cupping his face with her small hands, studying him.

He looked so... SAD.

He pushed father away from her, breaking from her touch. "I should go."

She nodded slowly. "Okay," she whispered.

He climbed up onto the windowsill, taking a deep breath.

"Kitty," she said quickly. He flinched, turning.

"Come back tomorrow?"

His eyebrows knit together. She rolled her eyes, gathering up all of her sassiness and holding back her guilt and pity.

"Not for you. I need to... Dress my wounds. Again. Every other day."

He smirked a bit, his usual lightness covering up the sudden seriousness of their conversation.

"Sure, Princess," he said, nodding slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

-/-/-

Marinette was calmly sketching in her sketchbook at lunch when unexpectedly, Nathanael came up to her, nervously clutching his own sketchbook.

She beamed up at him. Ever since he had been embarrassed in front of the whole class for his crush on her, she had tried to be especially nice to him. She knew what it was like to be flustered around a crush, that was for sure.

"Hi Marinette," he said softly. "Can I... Sit with you?"

She nodded, gesturing to the seat across from her. "Alya is absent today, so I'm all alone. I'd love to have you sit with me."

A slight blush crossed his cheeks, and he sat down, placing his sketchbook down.

"What are you drawing?" He asked, leaning and peering over.

She pushed her sketchbook to him, smiling. "A Ladybug themed dress. I don't know, I've been doodling with Paris's two biggest heroes."

He looked at it, smiling a bit. "I like it. I- i think it would look pretty on you."

She felt her face heat up at his compliment. "That's really sweet, Nath. Thank you."

She pulled her sketchbook back, still smiling down at it.

Nathanael watched her, sure that his eyes were dreamy, but he didn't care.

Marinette was beautiful. Her blue-ish hair was always pulled into loose pigtails, her bangs hanging in her eyes when she bent to sketch, just like his. Her beautiful blue eyes always had a playful spark in them- sometimes a fiery spark, depending on if she was defending someone from Chloé.

Marinette bit her lip absently. Nathanael felt himself melt a little.

She was probably the sweetest girl he'd met, besides maybe Rose. She was just the right amount of sweet and fiery- like one of the cinnamon chocolate cupcakes from the bakery her parents owned.

He flicked his hair out of his eye. "We should form a little drawing club," he said, his voice shaking a bit.

She looked up, a smile spreading across her face. "Yes, we should. Just you and me. You can sit with me at lunch, or in our study hall, and just draw."

He felt his face warm. "Really?"

"Sure!" She closed her book, propping her chin on her hand. "You could teach me how to draw people. From what I've seen, you're pretty good at it."

He felt himself nodding eagerly. "Sure, I'd love to!"

She smiled, but then her face fell.

"Nath... Can I ask you something?"

He was a little surprised at her sudden change, but he still nodded.

"When you were... Well, when you had turned into someone else," she said carefully. "You had said that... That I was like Chloè. Do you really think I'm like Chloè?"

He shook his head vigorously. "No! You're so much better than Chloè!"

She perked up a bit, but still looked a little worried. "Really? I'm not- I'm not mean? Sometimes when she gets on my nerves..."

"She deserves it," Nathanael said.

Marinette smiled. "Okay."

"Okay."

She re-opened her sketchbook. "Do you want to start the little 'club' now?"

He nodded, scooting out if his chair, and sitting next to her, so close their shoulders brushed.

"Okay," he said, flipping to a blank page in his notebook. "First, you're going to want to shape out their silhouette..."

-/-/-


	5. Chapter 5

Nino was telling Adrien a joke when he suddenly stopped, looking past Adrien's shoulder.

"What?" Adrien turned, looking at what Nino was looking at.

Nathanael sitting next to Marinette, very, very close.

As they watched, she blushed and laughed, and he laughed with her, wrapping his hand around hers, gripping a pencil together, an he traced a shape onto a piece of paper.

"They look cozy," Nino said, a teasing tone in his voice.

Adrien turned back, keeping his stare to the table, clutching his plastic utensil in his fist. "I guess."

Nino looked at him. "Dude, are you okay?"

Adrien frowned. "Fine."

Nino watched him for a few more seconds, then shrugged. "Okay. If you say so."

-/-/-

Chat Noir was beginning to like this routine of spending his nights with Marinette. Although his visits had originally been short, they had steadily been growing longer.

When he arrived, she was already in her tank top, trying to untie the thick knot he had made with one of her tiny hands.

"Whoa," he said, putting his gloved hand over hers, pulling it away. "You'll pull out your stitches like that."

She smiled up at him. "Hello, Kitty."

He nodded at her, kneeling down and untying the knot carefully with his claws.

"How was your day, Princess?"

She smiled. "It was good. A sweet guy that likes me spent all of lunch with me today."

Chat felt himself stiffen. He wasn't sure why, but his heart started beating a little faster.

"Oh? Do you like him?"

Marinette didn't notice the coldness in his voice.

"Well... No," she said. "I like someone else. But he's a good friend, and a sweet guy."

Chat slowly pulled the bloody gauze away from her skin. The stitches seemed to be healing nicely.

"Oh," he said, snipping off a new piece. "That's good. That he's not a creeper, I mean."

She let out a small laugh. "I have my share of those."

Chat Noir looked up at her through his eyelashes again, making her heart skip. Something about when he did that...

"You do?" He asked, startled.

She straightened. "Oh- no. It was a joke."

She hadn't meant to let that slip. She was speaking as Ladybug just then, not thinking at all.

"I mean, there are a few guys in my school," she shrugged, stumbling over her words. "But nothing serious. None of them have done more than flirting. Well, except that one guy-"

She froze, folding her hands in her lap. "I'm going to shut up now."

Chat tied the knot, standing and crossing his arms. "Oh, no, by all means. I'd like the hear what 'that one guy' did."

Marinette was flustered now. "He just- tried to kiss me. That's all."

"That's all," Chat said sarcastically. "Did he use force?"

"I kneed him in the balls," Marinette said sternly. "I can take care of myself, Kitty."

"Hey. I've saved your life twice. I think that warrants me being able to worry about you." He smiled a bit, quoting her.

It took her a second, but she smiled back, standing up.

"Okay," she said finally. "I get it."

Chat Noir stepped away from her, putting his staff in his belt.

"So... Tell me more about yourself," he said nonchalantly.

She wrinkled her nose. "Why?"

He laughed. "Because I've been in your room multiple times in the middle of the night. I've saved your life. I've told you some REALLY personal things. I think I deserve to know the little stuff, like what your favorite color is."

She shrugged, brushing her hair out of her eye. "I'm a pretty boring person."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

She smiled to herself. "Alright, alright."

After a second of thoughtful silence, she spoke again. "It's either green, or pink."

He looked around her pink room, smirking. "Never would've guessed."

He looked back at her. "Why green?"

She blushed. "The guy I like... His eyes are green."

Chat nodded solemnly. "Ah. Sort of how my favorite color is blue. Like My Lady's eyes." He wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed. "You're such a flirt. You're flirting with her and she isn't even here."

His smirk fell.

"I'm actually not," he said softly. "I don't flirt with anyone BUT her."

Marinette bit her lip. "You... Don't? Because... I'm friends with her. I'm sure you knew that."

He shrugged. "Yeah."

"She thinks... Well, she thinks you flirt with everyone," Marinette stuttered.

Chat raised his eyebrows. "Really? Why?"

Marinette pressed her lips together. "Well... You flirt with her. You flirted with ME when we first met."

Chat Noir scratched his fake ear. "I... I did?"

Marinette shrugged. "You kissed my hand and... Some other stuff."

Chat looked thoroughly embarrassed. "Well. I guess that's true."

"I'm surprised you didn't realize."

Chat opened his mouth, then closed it tightly. "We're talking about me again."

Mari shook her head. "Maybe you just need someone to open up to."

He took a deep breath. "How do you know I don't already have that?"

"You said no one cares about you."

He winced, and she sighed. "That came out wrong."

"No... You're right." He grimaced. "I am just... I'm sort of pathetic." He laughed weakly.

"No you're not!" Marinette stepped closer. "Why would you think that?"

Chat Noir clenched his jaw. "I couldn't even save you from that stupid building. I was right across the street."

She frowned. "But you DID save me."

He reached forward and cupped her face with one hand. "But you still got hurt."

His thumb traced where the scratch on her cheek had been. She felt the urge to close her eyes and lean into his touch, but she restrained.

"That was inevitable."

He shook his head. "No. It wasn't."

He stepped back. "My miraculous will probably run out soon. I should go."

She sighed. She knew it was a lie- their miraculous could go for twenty-four hours if they didn't use tier abilities.

"Okay," she said instead.

He was about to turn away, but she stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face against his shoulder in a right embrace.

His arms slid around her back, fitting perfectly in the arch of her spine.

"Until tomorrow," he said, pulling away.

"Goodbye, Kitty."

-/-/-


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette washed her hands in the school bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror.

The bathroom door swung open, and who should sashay inside but Chloé.

She scoffed, looking Marinette up and down. "Oh, if it isn't the untalented loser."

Marinette felt herself bristle. She turned the water off, turning to face Chloé.

"What makes me an untalented loser?"

Her smirk and judgmental eyes bore into Marinette. "I just finished looking at your drawings. You left your little trash book on the table. Adrien was looking at them."

Marinette's heart dropped. "H-he was?"

Chloé laughed. "He laughed. Said his dad could do so much better."

The words cut deep into Marinette. It had always been her dream to work with Gabriel Agreste someday, ever since she saw one of his designs when she was young. Adrien was the closest to Gabriel she had ever gotten.

"Why should I believe you?" Marinette's voice shook.

Chloé laughed again. "I believe his exact words were, 'I could do better than this with my eyes closed. That concussion must've knocked her around too much and given her brain damage'."

Marinette felt her throat close. Adrien and Alya were the only ones she had told about her concussion.

Was it possible... Adrien had said that?

Her eyelashes grew damp.

Chloé leaned closer. "You're pathetic. A pathetic little idiot, if you think someone as amazing as Adrien would EVER go for someone as plain and unimportant as YOU."

Marinette tried to swallow, but it wouldn't go down.

Chloé jabbed a finger in Mari's chest. "You think you deserve him? That you'll EVER deserve him? You're poorly mistaken. He only knows you exist because of your little Alya friend. He barely knows you."

Marinette pressed her lips together, her fists clenching.

Chloé wasn't relenting. "You really think anyone liked you in this school? Remind me again- Alya is always abandoning you for her LadyBlog, isn't she? That nerdy Nathanael kid took pity on you at lunch the other day- I heard him talking to Alix about how pathetic you looked. He laughed about your little Ladybug sundress later, making fun of your attempt at drawing a person."

Marinette felt a tear fall. There was no WAY Chloé could've known that. Unless... Nathanael really HAD told her.

"You're such a FREAK," Chloé hissed. "And nobody likes you. You're clumsy, and stupid, and ugly. You live in a BAKERY. You always smell like burned cookies. You have the hair of a three year old, and you DRESS like you put your clothes on in the dark. Who wears colored pants anymore?"

Marinette looked down at her outfit, a tear hitting the floor. Chloé's words dug into her heart and stayed there, engraving themselves.

"You are worthless," Chloé hissed. "Nobody would miss you if you just disappeared."

-/-/-


	7. Chapter 7

Chloé's words rang in her ears as she pushed open the library doors for study hall. She hoped she didn't look like she was crying- she knew her eyes were rimmed with red.

She sat down at a table in the corner, behind a bookshelf. She sniffed, wiping her nose.

She kept her face down, opening her textbook.

Nathanael appeared, smiling at her. "Hi, Marinette! Want to start round two of the drawing club?"

Marinette looked up at him. He was startled. Her cheeks and nose were pink, her eyes were glossy with tears, rimmed with red. Her lips were slightly puckered from the salt of the tears rubbing into them.

She still looked beautiful, just... Sadly beautiful.

"You don't have to anymore," she said softly, sniffing sadly. "I don't want to look stupid."

"What?" Nath took a step back. Since when was Marinette insecure?

"Just go," she said, her voice cracking. "Go laugh with Alix, or something."

Nath blinked rapidly. "Are you-"

"Please," she said forcefully, staring down at her lap.

Nathanael winced. "Okay."

-/-/-

It had been a week since Chloé's bathroom torment. Now that she had sink her claws in, she had been ripping Marinette apart piece by piece every day, now.

Adrien came up to her after class as she was packing up, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He was excited, because he had been planning something for Marinette as a surprise for her helping him make up extra credit for his science homework a few days before.

"Hey Marinette," he said. She looked up at him.

Something about her was different. The usual sparkle in her eyes was gone. The natural upturn of her pink lips had turned down. Her shoulders were hunched instead of straight, her posture sinking in instead of confident.

"You look awful," he said without thinking. She looked away quickly, standing up.

"Excuse me," she said, trying to move past him, out of her pew-like desk.

He stopped her. "Wait, I didn't- I mean-"

He sighed. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to a drawing class? My dad's friend is hosting one. It'll help you sketch your designs better."

She shrank a little lower, bringing a hand up to her face.

"I get it, okay?" She whimpered, pushing past him and hurrying out of the empty classroom.

He blinked in surprised. "Marinette?" He said to no one in particular.

-/-/-


	8. Chapter 8

Chat's visits with Marinette were slowly decreasing into more depressed talk and less of her cheerful smiles and banter.

Finally, after he had made a horrible pun and instead of making fun of him, she just looked away, he furrowed his brow.

"Alright," he said sharply, catching her attention. "I want to know what's wrong. I want to know NOW."

She blinked in surprise, brushing her hair out of her face. It was out of it's usual pigtails again- he had worn it just down at school, as well.

She was changing.

"What?" She asked.

Chat crossed his arms. "You're different. You're not smiling as much. You're turning more and more... Sad. You're turning into me," he joked.

She just bit her lip. "It's nothing."

"Princess..."

"I think you should go."

"What?" He took her chin in his fingers, turning her face to look at him. "Hey. Marinette."

She pushed out of his grip, biting her lip. "Chat."

"You've been acting strange," he said a little louder. "You're not smiling. You're not happy. You're not making fun of me. I want to know why."

After a second of tense silence, the completely unexpected happened.

She burst into tears, falling to her knees on the ground. She brought the heels of her hands to her eyes, trying to hide the tears falling, but it was no use.

Alarmed, chat knelt beside her, taking her wrists and bringing them away. She wouldn't look at him, her hair acting as a curtain.

"Marinette," he said softly, letting go of her wrist and cupping her jaw, running the pad of his thumb under her eye. "Shhh... Tell me what's wrong."

"Th-this girl at s-school has been b-bullying me," she hiccuped, trying to calm down, but failing miserably.

"What girl?"

"Ch-Chloé," she admitted. "She's b-been cornering me and say horrible th-things and I-"

She stopped, biting her lip, squeezing his hand.

"What is she saying?" Chat felt a bit angry- okay, understatement. He was FURIOUS.

"She c-calls me stupid, and a freak, and ugly, and worthless-" her voice cracked. "She tells me all my friends are making f-fun of me behind my b-back."

"What friends? Alya?"

Marinette shook her head slowly. "My friends, Alix and Nathanael..." She hiccuped. "...Adrien."

Chat stood up quickly. "Adrien? Adrien Agreste?"

Marinette peered up at him, nodding.

"That's not true," Chat said fiercely. "I- He would never do that to you."

Marinette sighed heavily, hugging herself. "I w-want to th-think so. But..."

-/-/-


	9. Authors Note important

**Bonjour. So sometimes my stories can cut off when someone is saying something (such as the last chapter), and that's because there's nothing more of imprtance to say, and I just need to get to the next scene. So sorry if that's a bit confusing! Salut, Au revoir, j'adore vu!**


	10. Chapter 9

Adrien marched up to Nathanael, who was chatting with Alix.

"I'm going to ask you something, and I want the TRUTH," Adrien growled.

Nathanael looked scared. "Whoa, whoa. What did I do?"

"Have you been making fun of Marinette behind her back?"

Nathanael looked started. Alix looked shocked.

"Us?" She asked.

"Yes. YOU."

"Of course not!" Nathanael looked flustered. "It- it's no secret that i-" he blushed. "Well. You know."

Adrien calmed down a bit. "Chloé's been telling her that you're making fun of her drawings after you teach her."

Nath looked horrified. "Is THAT why she's been avoiding me?"

Adrien shook his head, crossing and uncrossing his arms in uncertainty. "I don't know. She just hasn't been herself lately..."

Alix, still looking quite furious, scoffed. "You barely KNOW her, Adrien."

Adrien frowned. "I know her better than you think. And I'M not the one you should be snapping at."

Alix scowled and cracked her knuckles. "You're right. Anyone seen that little blonde freak show lately?"

Nath put a calming hand on Alix's shoulder. "We all love Marinette, but this isn't the way to deal with this. Violence is never the answer."

"She fell apart in my arms," Adrien stated. Nathanael stopped, looking at him. "She was crying and calling herself worthless. Just thought you should know."

Nath frowned. "Okay, SOMETIMES violence is the answer."

Alix's angry eyes shifted from Adrien to Nathanael. She seemed to be affected by Adrien's recent words. "Of anyone... I never expected MARINETTE to be affected by Chloe. Of everyone, I would've thought Marinette would be the strongest of all of us."

Adrien glanced around the empty classroom. It was slowly filling with the students who liked to get to class early.

"I know," he said softly. "Believe me. I know."


End file.
